McMURDO STATION, Antarctica – Betty Trummel is spending her winter on the bottom of the world.

The longtime Husmann fourth-grade teacher is using Skype and her blog to keep students and the science community engaged as she embarks on a research trip in Antarctica.

The frozen continent has her spellbound – it’s her third time there. This trip she’s with WISSARD, a project involving many U.S. universities and scientists as well as a few others from around the world. WISSARD stands for Whillans Ice Stream Subglacial Access Research Drilling. Researchers are trying to be the first to cleanly access – with no contamination – a subglacial lake. It is a project for which Trummel says all eyes in science are on them.